A communications network may generally be defined as a collection of computers or computing systems which interact or transmit data between one network device, e.g., client, router, gateway, and another network device, e.g., server. The connection between each network device, e.g., client, router, gateway, may be referred to as a “communication link.” For example, a communications network may comprise a host machine, e.g., server computer on the Internet commonly referred to as a web server, connected to one or more computers commonly referred to as clients via the Internet. The Internet may refer to a network of networks. Users of clients, commonly referred to as customers, including businesses and individuals, may be connected to the Internet through a gateway, e.g., Internet Service Provider (ISP). The gateway may provide access to the Internet for a fixed monthly fee. That is, customers may be charged a fixed fee regardless of when the customer transfers data or the amount of data transferred by the customer.
Often times, a customer may transmit packets of data, e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets of data, to the gateway during peak traffic hours. That is, a customer may transmit data during peak busy times of the day and not transmit data during the off-peak times of the day. By transmitting data during peak busy times of the day, the customer may experience network congestion. Furthermore, the customer is paying for use of the communication link during off-peak times despite the fact that the customer may not use the link. That is, the link between the customer and the gateway must either be able to handle the peak rate bandwidth, at a greater cost, or the customer will face network congestion during times of peak traffic. In either circumstance, there may be significant idle bandwidth during off-peak hours.
If gateways, e.g., ISP's, were able to track traffic statistics on a per packet basis, e.g., track the number of packets transmitted per unit of time, track time of day packets are transmitted, then customers may be billed based on variable pricing, e.g., billing based at least in part on the time of day the packets of data were transmitted, billing based at least in part on the number of packets transmitted per unit of time, instead of a simple fixed fee. By being billed based on variable pricing instead of a simple fixed fee, the customer may be motivated to transmit data during off-peak times or distributed over time thereby saving money. Furthermore, by transmitting data during off-peak times, network congestion may at least in part be lessened. Furthermore, gateways may benefit by reducing capital costs based on maximizing use of the bandwidth of the communication link.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a mechanism for gateways to track traffic statistics on a per packet basis to enable variable price billing whereby a customer may balance its data traffic in response to such billing.